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Saturday, 8 February 2014

January 2014 - The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

‘The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It
has a terrible fury all its own.' The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes follows
the story of Harper Curtis, a time travelling serial killer and Kirby Mazrachi,
one of his victims who not only survives but chooses to hunt down her attacker.
The book was generally well received by the group although some found some of
the content both disturbing and difficult to read. Most people felt this
reaction was a credit to the author's skill at building tension and depicting
such unsettling events.

It was felt that the author's ability to write believable
characters was particularly strong. The character of Harper in particular was
felt by most to be a vivid portrayal of a man with deeply psychopathic
tendencies. His sense of compulsion and cruelty came across very strongly
throughout the novel, lending no sympathy to his character but an unwelcome
understanding of his mind. The house itself played its part as a character in
this novel with a sense of it being almost sentient in its influence over
Harper. Some felt that more of an explanation was needed as to the history of
the house and its inner workings. Others felt that too much information on the
myriad influence that it has on the characters would have overwhelmed or halted
the flow of the novel, particularly with the complex ideas of time travel and
fate.

One passage that the group felt particularly significant was
when Harper discovered the wall of trophies of murders he was yet to commit.
Another striking section of the novel was the attack on Kirby. Many members of
the group found this a very difficult chapter to read as the author did not
hold back on details, creating a vivid and disturbing chapter. The group felt
that the author dealt well with the theme of violence by introducing us to
Harper's victims very intimately in their own chapters prior to the attacks. By
creating such complex and rich characters we see them as individuals and not
just faceless targets. It was felt that the varied imagery of their respective
'trophies' echoed this.

When discussing the overall structure of the novel the group
felt that it was generally easy to follow despite jumping through different
time periods. Most felt that following the timeline of the killer rather than
one of his victims was a clever way of building tension through the novel as the
conclusion to the story remains unknown until the last chapter.

Overall the group felt that the novel had well written
ending with some mixed views as to whether the author should have included a
bit more information on the fate of the characters after the climatic events of
the final chapter or if the feeling of uncertainty lent a certain freedom to
characters who had so far been governed by a preordained line of events.